Misunderstood Destinies

Jargos took her hand and let his runes blaze white, and let light from himself flow into her rune. He held her hand as the young Jargos took shape in her soul, looking for the silver wolf

Theresa formed the green aura around her hand and placed it on Layla's chest. "I'm not going to lose you, Layliana."

--

Meanwhile, within the darkness, the silver wolf that was Layla's final form of the runes was laying on the black ground.

The young Jargos found the wolf and floated up to her

"Oh, there you are, miss wolf. What's wrong?"

"My power is very weak, young Jargos. As is my master's. The wound that was taken was that of Dark Magic. A magic that is powerful against Light Magic."

"Oh, no! How can I help, miss wolf?"

"I do not know, young Jargos. I was given by the power of the runes. Not that of the elven magic. Dark and Light magic are weak against one another when powerful enough. Both the enemy and she took wounds from each other's magic. Meaning, whatever fate the other faces will be the same as hers unless countered. Every action has an opposite and equal reaction. Perhaps that may shed some light on the situation."

"Oh . . . So, we need to heal the mean lady?"

"The woman is too far gone to save, and even if the statement wasn't true then there wouldn't be a way to counter light magic being that she's a Dark Mage. What I mean is, try to expel the Dark Magic within Master's system. She willingly risked her life with it to save you, not knowing whether or not she could take it. You claim you owe her debts, and she'll refuse them and still defend you regardless. That's how much she cares for you."

the young jargos began to cry and the Jargos outside let a tear fall down. He knew what to do. He growled and began channeling all of his most primal, powerful energy into her rune, and into her. Young Jargos hugged the wolf and let loose brilliant light as Jargos' energy poured into Layla. As so much energy entered her body, the dark energy could only travel out through her rune and into Jargos' body. Once every last bit was in Jargos' body, he roared out and ran for his life. The young Jargos was absorbed into all the primal energy in Layla's body

Theresa watched as Jargos ran off. Layla hadn't come to consciousness yet, though, her words from before still remained firm. She saw a brief flash from before. Her words from before echoed, it seemed.

"--and that's why I gave you the power of fire. It's the flame to all of our souls. And yours will burn stronger than any of us on the battlefield. You will have a stronger resistance to her powers if you know how to use it properly."

Jargos roared out as he ran and ignited his fire powers. He felt the dark energy, but he knew what he was going to do. He began to make a mini-sun as he speed past everything

Layla began to come back to consciousness, though her first thoughts were on Jargos.

"Layliana, thank the heavens..." Theresa stated. She continued to use the healing magic on her.

Layla worded out a chant of some sort.

"Ancient magic, elf and rune,
Give Jargos the proper aid
To shine bright and stop utter doom."

A white sphere formed in her hand and flowed through the sky to find Jargos.

Jargos focused all the energy in his body into this mini-sun, every last bit of power, as he slowed down and finally stopped. He was at the summit of a volcano. He had smelt the ash in the air the first time he ever went to the village, but ignored it. He knew that pure fire power such as magma could destroy dark energy, seeing how his own fire was eating it up, but he didn't have enough power to finish it off. He held his arm out, then dropped the sun into the volcano. In a spectacular display, the lava consumed the energy ball and erupted. Magma poured down the side of the mountain, but cooled quickly. Jargos was nowhere to be seen

Layla couldn't sense Jargos, which did worry her. With some aid from Theresa, Layla stood up and glanced up at the sky. "We can only hope that he's all right." She pulled from her mother's grip and walked over to Ramona. The woman was finally dead, but Layla knew the war was far from over. Zeiza needed a new leader now if the village was to continue on.

. . .

Layla glanced around. Much damage had been done to the village. Survivors were gathering around her.

"Like I said before," Layla stated. Theresa walked over to her. Layla held on her shoulder for support. Despite her energy restored, she was still weakened by the usage of magic. "Ramona was a Dark Mage. You all didn't know it. And the one person you have to thank for saving Zeiza may be dead unless the last of my reserved magic for now can find him. Jargos is your hero. And you all couldn't stand the fact that he was an outsider. Zeiza is now left without a leader and did not get to properly thank its hero because of all of you."

The sphere flew off in the direction of Jargos, following the last trail it could pick up. Layla knew if she believed, she'd find Jargos. The sphere would bring him home.

Jargos' energy was very slowly coming back to him, but he could not move, and he was still unconscious

Little did Theresa know, some of the healing magic that was used on Layla was stored within the sphere.

"After the exile, after the battle, after all of this, I've come to understand that Zeiza has been sealed from the world for too long. I want to fix this. Airen, Mother, take my hand. Yes, I did summon you, Airen. I need you as well."

The two came together and took her hand. Together, the three formed a beam of light that shined into the sky. The fog was cleared in the mountain and the gate to the village was shattered.

"Guards, Warriors, you are free to travel as you wish now without worry. Villagers, you too are free to come and go as you please."

Layla hoped that with the beacon, Jargos, wherever he was, would know it was a sign from Layla to return.

"And to my friend, the hero of Zeiza, will always be treated as an honorary member here. I say, we create a new law of the village. The Jargos Law. All outsiders shall be welcomed here like guests. Not like enemies. They shall be treated properly."

The surface of the cooled lava began to crack over Jargos. His energy was returning, but his state was the same

"And in my final statement," Layla stated, a tear falling down her face. "My eternal thanks to him for not only saving Zeiza, but my life as well. When I fought Ramona, we were both nearly killed immediately after the blast. I only live on because he gave everything he could to me. Right when I thought it was over, he was able to save my life before I passed on."

She removed her hands from the group and stood in front of them.

"To a friend, a hero, and a savior. To Jargos, wherever he is." The villagers nodded and joined in. Layla truly did care about Jargos, and only hoped that he was safe. Wherever he may be.

Jargos' eyes opened as the cooled lava around him shattered. He was in his true form. He slowly got up, then stumbled a bit. He knew that he could never look human again, and he could only speak the language of beasts, but he was fine with that. He slowly began his long walk to the village

As the sphere picked up Jargos' trail again, it flew over to him and showed him the events that happened at Zeiza since he had left. Starting from Layla's recovery to her final statement in front of the village.

"Zeiza needs a leader, and I believe it best goes to my mother. She is wise, and she knows this place better than I."

Jargos smiled, then kept walking back. It would take him more than an hour to get there

The sphere followed close behind him, then floated in front of him. The sphere then burst and white light flowed into Jargos.

Jargos stopped for a moment, then let the light flow into him. He felt better, but he was still weak. He didn't even know how he was walking right now